29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 18, 2020

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Gospel: Matthew 22:15–21

Theme: What do I owe to civil authorities? What do I owe to God?

Matthew 22:15–21

When the chief priests and Pharisees had heard the parables, they realized that Jesus was speaking about them. Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap Jesus in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?”

But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius.

Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” They answered, “The emperor’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

Music Meditations

Opening Prayer

From the Carmelites:

Create silence in us so that we may listen to Your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May Your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, may experience the force of Your resurrection and witness to others that You are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace…

Companions for the Journey

Adapted from “First Impressions”, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

Everyone knows this famous story: Pharisees and Herodians try to trap Jesus into offending either the civil authorities or the religious authorities. When handed a coin with emperor’s image on it, Jesus tells them “repay to Caesar, what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. He might be suggesting to them that a faithful person could still recognize secular rule. But he gives no absolute guidelines, thus leaving much to the interpretation of his followers throughout the ages. That interpretation has varied, even among people in the very same Christian and secular context.

We get a pretty clear idea of what government asks of us; we are to be responsible and informed citizens; vote in elections; pay taxes; obey national and local laws; defend the country when outside forces threaten it, etc. In the light of the Gospel today, and with the upcoming national and local elections, we have a remarkable opportunity to reflect on practicing the virtue of responsible citizenship. Our American bishops have said that participation in the political process is an obligation. The bishops caution however, that they do not seek to form a voting block nor to instruct us how to vote. The preacher for this Sunday should follow this example. But the preacher can promote citizenship and encourage people to help shape a national life that has more respect for life and the dignity of each person. Political policies are to be evaluated by how they affect the poor, the vulnerable, the unborn. We will need to use the values of our faith to inform our voting. However, the bishops have advised us that reference to particular candidates should not be made.

It’s the second part of Jesus’ statement that frustrates any attempts some might attempt to keep politics and religion in separate tidy boxes. Jesus untidies our neat distinctions. Give “to God what belongs to God,” he tells us. Here I am asked to examine my personal and public life, to see if and how I am “giving to God.” It’s not financial remunerations we are talking about here. Giving to God requires my full dedication to God; it will include my private and my public self. Some very holy people have found their giving to God required them to not give to Caesar. Martin Luther King, Jr. is a good example; so is Dorothy Day, who challenged both national and church policies. During the Spanish conquest of the Americas, the Dominican Bartolomeo de las Casas argued against his government’s enslavement of indigenous peoples; Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a minister, even joined a plot against Hitler.

We can’t cordon off our lives; the “secular” from the “religious.” God’s presence and actions are not confined to our narrow categories. That’s what Isaiah stresses. Our notion of God is too small. What does belong to God? All our heart, all our soul and all our mind. God deserves total allegiance from us because, as Paul reminds us, we have been freely chosen by God to live lives of “faith and love.” The gift of faith has been given; we are expected now to live out that gift by lives of full dedication to God and God’s service.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

  • Has there been a time when I was pressured into making a decision that went against my principles? How did it turn out?
  • What in my life belongs “to Caesar”? What belongs only “to God”? When do these duties overlap?
  • Have I ever felt that my worldly obligations have taken time away from God?
  • When has my duty to God impelled me to speak out against the inequitable or cruel treatment of others by our own government, for example?
  • Is there a contradiction between being a good citizen and serving God? Do I see Church and state on a collision course?
  • If we were to live in a theocracy (no daylight between the laws of God as expressed by religious and civil laws) which religion should be the defining standard?
  • Should my church tell me whom or what to vote for? Should it tell me what or whom to vote against?
  • Does legitimate civil power have a right to ask anything from us (voting in elections, obedience to laws, the payment of taxes, conscription in the military, for example)? What does it not have a right to ask of me?
  • Where does the notion of civil disobedience fit into the meaning of this gospel?
  • What do I think I should render to God on earth, specifically to the people of God, to all God’s creation, including the natural world?
    Can the term “rendering unto God” be interpreted as working for just laws, support for the poor and marginalized, respect for all life? Can it be interpreted as working to wipe out racism, sexism, elitism of any kind?
  • From Jude Siciliano, O.P,:
    What gifts has God given me to serve the Gospel of Jesus?
    Where and how can I use those gifts?
    Shall I invite the Holy Spirit to make me open to ways God is calling me to serve?
  • From Daniel Harrington, S.J.:
    How do you react to the biblical concept of the origin and purpose of political power which is for the good of the people?
    In the upcoming U.S. election, will your religious convictions influence your votes? How and why?
  • For this week, keep track of where you spend your money and what you spend it on. What does your checkbook and your datebook tell you about your priorities?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style:

Psalm 72

1O God, give your judgment to the king, to a king’s son your justice,
2that he may judge your people in justice, and your poor in right judgment.
3May the mountains bring forth peace for the people, and the hills justice.
4May he defend the poor of the people, and save the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor.
5He shall endure like the sun and the moon through all generations.
6He shall descend like rain on the meadow, like showers that water the earth.
7In his days shall justice flourish, and great peace till the moon is no more.

12For he shall save the needy when they cry, the poor, and those who are helpless.
13He will have pity on the weak and the needy, and save the lives of the needy.
14From oppression and violence he redeems their souls; to him their blood is dear.
15Long may he live!

I read sections from Psalm 72, then I reflect on the way power is revered in our society, and, in the main, how that power is used. What are the dangers of power? This psalm is frequently used as a description of the way an ideal ruler must use power. I think of our history and all of the ways in which power has been abused. Has this been the story in our own church? In our country? Reflect on these verses as you make your voting decisions for November.

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

Adapted from “First Impressions” 2002:

It is clear from church teaching that we Christians are called to engage the world and bring our beliefs with us into Caesar’s domain. Vatican II reminded us to take our faith into the market place and interpret our times in the light of the gospel. If we have any doubts all we have to do is to read papal and episcopal documents that address: poverty, globalization, war, abortion, the death penalty, health care, environment, the economy. These teachings remind us that the church of Jesus’ followers doesn’t exist apart from the world and that we are called to be agents of change for peace and justice. It is God’s will that all people be treated justly, the poor cared for and everyone must be given respect and treated with dignity as a child of God.

What is my job as a citizen to call out the failures and omissions, the cruelties and injustices that our system perpetuates? What is my job as a citizen to address poverty, to care for the sick and lonely, to bring justice to the captives, to welcome the stranger? Is this only the job of government, or do I have a part to play? What am I doing in this regard right now? If not right now, when will be the right time to get started?

Poetic Reflection:

When we say we want to give to God what is God's, what, exactly, do we mean? Wendell Berry reflects on the ways we pay lip service to God, but are really in the service of another reality altogether…

“We Who Prayed and Wept”

We who prayed and wept
for liberty from Kings
and the yoke of liberty
accept the tyranny of things
we do not need.
In plenitude too free,
we have become adept
beneath the yoke of greed.

Those who will not learn
in plenty to keep their place
must learn it by their need
when they have had their way
and the fields spurn their seed.
We have failed Thy grace.
Lord, I flinch and pray,
send Thy necessity.

from Collected Poems